Young shot-stopper Jake Jessup is once again available for today’s top of the table clash against Hampton & Richmond after serving one-game suspension while long-time undisputed number one Andy Reynolds kept a clean sheet in the FA Cup win at Tilbury last weekend.

This afternoon is the first time the management team have had both available for selection this season and Chapman believes the club is lucky to have such a dilemma.

“It’s a really tough one,” he said. “Jake has come on in leaps and bounds, he proved that in the big games last season against Billericay and Cray. His attitude and performances were first class.

“He is a real threat to Andy Reynolds and is on his shoulder. It’s the first time for a long time that Reyns has had someone to challenge him – it will certainly keep him on his toes.

“We have have had a chat about it and we will see on the day. The bottom line is that it can only be good for us to have two quality goalkeepers vying for one position.” Whoever is called upon could be in for a busy afternoon against the current league leaders, Hampton, who are yet to concede a goal this season in the league.

But Chapman insists the Blues have enough quality in their squad to lay down an early marker in the race for promotion.

“It’s going to be a really tough game. They came down last year so they are one of the favourites this season – five clean sheets on the bounce is impressive, we’ve had them watched and know it’s going to be difficult.

“But we’ve got a lot of belief in our players and we know that we can hurt them. We will be asking them a lot of questions because we’ve got players that can score from all areas.

“We are more than a match for anyone when we get it right.”

Lee Smith is expected to be available after recovering from a hamstring strain although Dale Cockrill is a doubt with a slight knee problem.

The match will also come too soon for Adam Smith although the full-back has started light training again following the ankle injury he sustained on the opening day of the season at Whitehawk. He is expected to be available again in a couple of weeks time.

When everyone is available again Chapman believes there is plenty more to come from his side despite their impressive start to the season which has taken them to second place.

“We all believe we can play better,” he added. “We’ve got a lot of strength in our squad and we believe there’s more to come from them. Since pre-season we’ve been building. It’s been very high tempo in training and everbody is working hard to improve. We’re pleased with the start that we’ve made.”